The Ghost Queen
by Angela Ravenclaw
Summary: Holly had always known she was special, being the granddaughter of Harry Potter. What she didn't know was just how much. When she was dragged into the world of Greek mythology and learned that none other than Zeus himself had tried to kill her as a baby, how would she survive? Merlin (BBC)/ Harry Potter/ Percy Jackson. Familiarity with fandoms strongly suggested. Please R&R!
1. Prologue

**Title: The Ghost Queen**

**Author: Angela Ravenclaw**

**Rated: T (I have no idea how this whole rating thing works, so not to be taken too seriously)**

**Warnings: Spoilers for… everything; violence & mild cussing**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable**

* * *

Prologue

Merlin Ambrosius had been waiting for fifteen hundred years. But for what? Not even he knew.

Currently, he was standing on the edge of the Lake Avalon, his jacket and jeans ripped and torn from the long hike through wild bushes. There wasn't anything for miles around, as muggles, modern wizards and even demigods tended to avoid this place, and he couldn't use any magical ways of transporting around here. The smooth, slightly blue surface of the lake was without a ripple, reflecting the snowy-white-tipped mountain in the distance. It was really a beautiful place. But Merlin just stood there, looking straight ahead, not really seeing anything. All his best friends had been dead for a long, long time. He had sent some of them away right on this very spot…

He shook his head. Dwelling on the past would do him no good. He knew from experience that would only bring him closer to insanity. So why had he come here, the place where more bitter memories registered than anywhere else (apart from maybe the ruins of what used to be Camelot), when he could be doing something productive like… That was a good question, what could he do that was the least bit productive? Maybe he just went to the lake for the sake of giving his feet something to do. He sighed. He felt like a mystery even to himself. He turned around and started to walk away.

That was when he heard it. A slight buzzing. It made him pause and listen. He couldn't tell where it was coming from, but it was definitely there. It grew stronger and stronger until he could no longer pass it off as his imagination, until he knew something was definitely up. The lake was one of the last places where the magic of the Old Religion still thrives. His heart was pounding hard against his ribs. This was the first time since Arthur's death the Old Religion had spoken to him? Could the Old Religion have finally brought back Arthur? It seemed too good to be true.

Turned out, it was. As he turned back to the lake, he could feel a prodding at the back of his mind. It was as if someone, or something, was trying to break into his mind. Knowing it was the Old Religion, trying to send him a message of some kind, he let down his defenses and opened his mind willingly. A boy with a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead appeared in his mind. He knew him to be Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived. So, no Arthur then.

More images flooded his brain. He saw Harry Potter's battles with Voldemort, including the final one where he had managed to defeat that vile creature of a man. That was nothing new; he had even been there personally a few times, helping Harry out of the shadows. Then Harry's wedding with Ginny. The scene skipped ahead a few more years, and he saw Ginny hugging a small red-headed child, obviously she and Harry's daughter. He vaguely remembered reading something in the Daily Prophet a few decades ago (Man, has it really been that long?) about them having a third child named Lily Luna Potter, so that must have been her. He watched as the little girl grew up into a young woman, and moved to Los Angeles, California. He could tell as he saw the Hollywood sign on the hill. There, she met a man. He couldn't make out the man's form, only that he was dressed entirely in black, but Merlin knew the guy must be important somehow. Lily soon became pregnant. Then, there was a scene, where she was crying and begging on the floor in front of the man, but he just shook his head and slashed his hand across the air, seemingly melting into the shadows.

Realization dawned on Merlin. Out of habit, he clenched his teeth to prevent himself from crying out, even though there was no one around to witness his show of emotion. Of course, only Hades and his descendents could have the ability to Shadowtravel. Since there were no children of Hades in L.A., this could only be the lord of the Underworld himself. That would mean… The child…

Images continued to flit across his brain. He saw Lily living in a cottage in some woods, the baby right beside her. The scene zoomed out to show the whole cottage, shaking and rattling in what seemed to be a storm. Suddenly, a streak of lightning came out of nowhere, hitting the little shack squarely on the roof.

This time, he did gasp out loud. Not only because of seeing the horrifying image of the charred and smoking cottage, but knowing exactly who had done that to it. Only his father, Zeus, had that much power with lightning. This wasn't the first time he had seen his father doing something drastic to eliminate possible danger, but that didn't make it feel any better. If anything, it made him madder every time.

He saw Lily's shield flicker out, revealing the baby perfectly safe, but Lily herself was lying a few feet away, either already dead or on her way there. The vision went out, leaving Merlin kneeling on the wet grass, gasping and panting. Then, he smiled grimly to himself and got to his feet again.

After millennia and a half, he finally had work to do.

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***Nervously bites nails* So, what do you guys think? This is my first fanfic, so I have absolutely no idea how I did. Feel free to point out any mistakes or things you don't like. Keep in mind that I didn't grow up speaking English, so please cut me some slack!**


	2. Chapter 1 Harry, Holly & Hogwarts

**Title: The Ghost Queen**

**Author: Angela Ravenclaw**

**Rated: T**

**Warnings: Spoilers for… everything; violence & mild cussing**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable**

* * *

Chapter 1

Harry, Holly & Hogwarts

_11 years later_

The Hogwarts Express sat on platform nine and three-quarters, glistening red and smoke billowing out of the engine, looking as magnificent as ever. Students and parents gathered around, saying goodbyes to one another, dragging their heavy trunks onto the train. Owls and other weird-looking animals and objects were present in the crowd, making all kinds of even weirder noises.

Holly stood on the platform, her own screech-owl in a cage, Aunt Rose fussing about her clothes, trying to get her to tidy up her red hair, checking and double checking her list, and stuffing even more things she couldn't possibly need into her trunk. But she hardly paid any attention. She was still _very_ mad that she had to go to Hogwarts instead of Rockridge, the jewel of the Rockies as they said. She was, after all, raised in America, and would appreciate to get education in a familiar territory. Not to mention they weren't as likely to start fawning over her when they heard about her grandfather. Every time she tried to point this out, however, her aunt just hastily changed subject and never gave a straight answer. It was annoying to the point she actually considered slipping Veritaserum into the woman's morning orange juice. But she didn't, and now it looked like she never would.

She thought back on her life in Los Angeles. She's never known her parents, but she knew plenty about her mother and her "heritage". The famous Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, Defeater of The Dark Lord, Savior of the Wizarding World and all that, was apparently her grandfather. Well, huzzah for that, but she didn't feel any real connection to the old man she saw only at Christmas feasts. She was brought up by her aunt Rose, who was infertile and couldn't have any children. Rose was nice enough, except for the whole Hogwarts vs. Rockridge thing, and treated Holly as her own. _Well_, she thought sometimes to herself, _at least I got luckier than my grandfather_. She's never heard anything about her father though, so for all she knew, the guy could be anything from a drug dealer to the president. Probably not a wizard, though, or she would at least have heard _something_ about him.

She went to a muggle school in L.A., where people tended to avoid her as much as possible like she was carrying some contagious disease. Which was all fine by her, she wasn't really a "people" person anyways. However, she did have a good friend there. Alice Park was a nerd, no doubt about that, but she was a friendly girl who was apparently immune to whatever thing about Holly that was scaring away other people. Now she wouldn't even be on the same continent as her.

A loud whistle shook her out of her musings and brought her back to the present. Her eyes refocused on her tearful aunt, who told her to hurry up or she'll miss the train. As she was getting up the train, she yelled after her, "Be a good girl!"

"I will! You know I will!" Holly yelled back. Because despite her unpopularity at school, she's always been an obedient student who did reasonably well on her schoolwork and didn't do anything out-of-bounds. Well, mostly.

She got on the train, managed to find an empty compartment, and settled down beside the window. Her dark eyes glazed over as she once again thought back again at her life in L.A.

It was actually kind of scary, how much magical potential she was already showing. Her aunt said she was already levitating pots and stuff when she was just one year old, even stopping time when she was about four. Some things she did were deeds even experienced wizards and witches would struggle under. People would expect great things from Harry Potter's descendent, but this was probably above anyone's expectations. Which was why when Aunt Rose told Holly to keep it to the two of them, she had whole-heartedly agreed. Holly was always one to keep a low profile. Now, however, she wondered if that would be possible where she was going. She was bound to be a whiz at every subject she was about to take, not to mention people would be very interested about Harry Potter's American granddaughter.

Holly was once again shaken out of her thoughts, this time by the compartment door opening. A girl with dark, chocolaty curls stood in the doorway, looking slightly embarrassed and unsure about what to do with herself. Holly just sat there, waiting for the girl in front of her to make the first move.

"Hello, can I sit here?" The girl said, unable to bear the silence anymore. Holly shrugged indifferently and turned her head, continuing to stare out the window. The awkward silence that followed lasted a whole minute before the brown-haired girl decided she couldn't take it anymore.

"So, are you also a first-year?" True, it wasn't much of a conversation starter, but it was kind of hard to find a good one in the presence of such a quiet and slightly unnerving figure as Holly Potter.

"Yes." Holly said simply, still looking out at the not-at-all-interesting scenery on the outside of the train.

"Nice. What House do you think you'll be in?" The brunette pressed on.

"No idea. My whole family's been in Gryffindor though." Holly answered truthfully. She wasn't all that sure she was going to be a Gryffindor too. She's always felt somehow… different from the rest of the family, or probably the rest of the world for that matter.

The girl sitting in front of Holly smiled, glad to see the conversation starting to flow. "Cool. I think I'll probably be a Ravenclaw. Speaking of families, are you a Weasley?" She said, gesturing toward Holly's bright red hair.

Seeing no way around this one and cursing herself for bringing the subject up, Holly said, "No, I'm a Potter. My name's Holly." Seeing the other's expression, she added hastily, "I grew up in L.A., so I only see my grandpa at Christmas. Not much interaction between me and him." She looked around for a change of subject. "What's your name anyway?"

The other girl backed down, still looking awed. "Bree. Bree McKenzie. Wait, so you are American?"

The next few hours on the train were spent with Holly being bombarded with questions from Bree. Holly tried to avoid any questions about her abilities. Even so, by the time they reached Hogwarts, the brunette was practically worshipping Holly.

_Well_, Holly thought bitterly, loading herself into a boat to cross the lake, _that's what you get for being related to the most famous wizard since Merlin himself_.

* * *

The first-years lined up in the Great Hall for the Sorting ceremony. Even Holly had to admit, Hogwarts was a magnificent looking place, from the outside of the castle to the inside. The Great Hall itself had a ceiling enchanted to look like the sky above, as if you could just reach out to the heaven. The staff table was on the far end of the hall on a slightly raised platform, with the four House tables filled with chattering students below the platform. Among the crowd, Holly recognized her cousin Ian, who gave her a thumbs-up from the Gryffindor table. She smiled, glad for the support.

On the stool in front of the staff table sat the most frayed-looking and disgusting hat Holly had ever had the misfortune to lay her eyes on. She could just imagine the cheerleaders at her old school shuddering at the thought of putting the thing on. She was slightly more impressed however, as a rip near the brim of the hat opened wide like a mouth, and it started to sing about the different Houses and the Founders of Hogwarts.

A loud round of applause followed the hat's song. The hat bowed to each of the four tables and became still once more. A rather airy-fairy looking woman held out a roll of parchment and said in an equally light voice, "Ok, first-years, when I call your names, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."

As more and more people were called to the front, Holly started tapping her foot to a tune in her head. She's always loved music; it was in fact her favorite class at the muggle school, and her best subject. Singing, dancing…

"Potter, Holly!"

Holly was, for the third time that day, jolted out of her thoughts. She went up to the stool, noticing that some people were muttering something around the lines of, "You reckon she's related to Harry Potter?"

The last thing she saw before the enormous ugly hat engulfed her head was Bree chattering to her neighbor at the Ravenclaw table, probably recounting their conversation on the train.

However, the hat was lifted off her head almost immediatly, shouting to the crowd in an ear-splitting voice, "_Slytherin!_"

As Holly hurried over to the table on the far corner of the room, she could hear people booing and screaming so loudly, the Slytherins' cheers were almost inaudible. Her cheeks feeling as if they were on fire, she sat down on an empty bench, which was soon filled with curious Slytherins trying to get a look at her. She stared pointedly at her plate, not looking at anyone. If she could dig a hole and crawl into it without attracting any attention right then, she most definitely would.

Being the granddaughter of Harry Potter was one thing. Being the granddaughter of Harry Potter who got sorted into Slytherin was a completely different matter. This day really couldn't get any worse.

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**Please R&R!**


	3. Chapter 2 The Hogwarts Ghosts

**Title: The Ghost Queen**

**Author: Angela Ravenclaw**

**Rated: T**

**Warnings: Spoilers for… everything; violence & mild cussing**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable**

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Chapter 2

The Hogwarts Ghosts

Holly had sneaked away to go to bed early after the Sorting. How she managed it, she had no idea. Her small and insignificant size might have something to do with it.

She was not happy about the result of the Sorting. No one would be happy to be in Slytherin unless they were Pure-Blood maniacs. But what could she do about it? Go to the headmaster's office and beg to put on the Sorting Hat again? Yeah, sure, that'll work. Not. Unless the headmaster got hit on the head with a broomstick or something.

She decided that she didn't care. People tended to ignore her, which was all fine, even though it was probably just an act. She knew that even though she was Harry Potter's granddaughter, people would just pretend she didn't exist at all. This was emphasized by how Bree didn't talk to her at all during the feast or notice her slip away, even though they were sitting back-to-back.

With these thoughts going through her head, Holly fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

The next morning came too swiftly for Holly's taste. Man, she hated getting up!

Yawning, she put on her clothes and made way to the Great Hall for breakfast. She found out that the saying that Hogwarts was a maze was an understatement. Even with her better-than-normal sense of direction, she managed to get lost at least four times. Finally, she found the Great Hall with most of the students already seated and having breakfast. She sat down on a bench at the far end of the Slytherin table and started her breakfast.

Now that the initial shock of a Potter being Sorted into Slytherin had worn off, people seemed to be determined to ignore Holly as much as possible, even the ones at her own House. Not that it bothered her. Much.

Suddenly, something _whoosh_ed past Holly, coming to a halt a few feet away from her. Holly yelped a little, having left the previous night before the ghosts came. She steeled her nerves and looked at the being in front of her. He was covered in what seemed to be silver blood from head to toe. So this was the Bloody Baron she's heard so much about.

"Hello." She said politely, not wanting to anger who was rumored to be the most powerful ghost in the castle.

To everyone's great surprise, the ghost's eyes widened and he knelt down, saying, "My lord, is there anything you need?"

Holly looked around, seeing that everyone in the hall was staring at the Baron and herself with mouths hanging open. She raised an eyebrow, thoroughly confused, and said into the silence, "Um… No?"

The ghost got up and bowed. "Well, if you ever need my assistance…" He said, floating away, the students and teachers still gaping uncontrollably.

The next few encounters with ghosts didn't go all that well with Holly, either. Nearly Headless Nick was so – Holly didn't know what he was feeling, actually – his head almost fell of his shoulders during his brief meeting with Holly as she struggled to find her way to her Charms lesson. He insisted on leading her to her class, bowing and stammering "No, the pleasure is all mine… all mine" as he left her in front of the classroom. Moaning Myrtle screamed for the whole castle to hear when Holly accidentally went into her bathroom. Binns… was the worst. When she went into his History of Magic class, he actually glanced up from his paper, looked at Holly, and glided back through the blackboard, screaming "The Ghost Queen, The Ghost Queen!" whatever that meant.

This started a series of whispers centered around Holly.

_What a nice way to start the school year_, Holly thought miserably to herself.


	4. Chapter 3 Whispers

**Title: The Ghost Queen**

**Author: Angela Ravenclaw**

**Rated: T**

**Warnings: Spoilers for… everything; violence & mild cussing**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable**

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Chapter 3

Whispers

Holly had thought the whispers would have died down in a few days, at most a few weeks. Being an American descendent of Harry Potter who got sorted into Slytherin and was so clever she was taking most of her classes with people three years above her (not Herbology though, the plants hated her), sure, that's a first, but people would soon get tired of discussing it and move on to newer gossip subjects, even if you add the factor that all the ghosts seemed to be at her command. But they just wouldn't go away, not after a month, two months, twelve months… and now, three years. Every time someone walked by, they started giving her weird looks and whispered to their friends, or just simply turned and walked away. Those were officially the most miserable years Holly had have to endure in her thirteen years of life.

What was the worst thing, though, was that the whispering actually sometimes had signs of dying down. Every time they did however, something happened to Holly, and they started up all over again. The following are just three carefully selected examples from each year out of a hundred (okay, that's an exaggeration, maybe fifty?).

* * *

_First Year: The Exploding Broomstick_

Holly was so, so nervous. So nervous she didn't even touch her breakfast plate in front of her, the butterflies completely filling her stomach. Today was the day of the first flying lesson, and she had never so much as touched a flying broomstick in her life. She had asked Rose for a broomstick ride many, many times, but her aunt had always made up some sort of excuse, and never letting the girl in the air. She had even used a Portkey for them to get to King's Cross. Holly was so totally going to make a fool of herself trying to fly, especially since people would be focusing on her because she was related to the best seeker Hogwarts had in centuries

The morning and lunch had passed in a daze, her thoughts completely centered on the flying lesson in the afternoon. Three thirty came swiftly, way too swiftly for Holly. She headed down to the grounds, knees knocking together slightly as she listened to her fellow Slytherins boasting to each other about their oh so awesome flying skills. That wasn't particularly helpful.

She stood on the smooth, flat lawn, her heart beating so hard it was hurting her ribs. Her instructor was a short woman with graying Einstein hair and very strict-looking green eyes. Not exactly a reassuring look.

"Okay, everyone. My name is Madam Clark, and I'll be teaching you the art of flying. Now, stand by a broomstick and stick your right hand above it. Good. Say 'up', and the broom should jump up into your hand."

"UP!" Everyone shouted.

Holly looked around frantically, and saw, to her great relief, not many other people had done it successfully, either. She tried again. And again. Then again. The broom just rolled on the floor, like a child refusing to get up on a school day. She looked around again, and this time, hers was the only broom still on the floor. She could feel her face starting to burn as Madam Clark walked over to her and said, "Well, what seems to be the problem here?"

Holly shrugged, not knowing the answer to that one.

"Let's try again then, shall we? Come on, dear." Madam Clark encouraged.

Holly concentrated as she had never done before, and said, in as commanding a voice as she could muster, "UP!"

This time, the broom didn't roll, but started vibrating, billowing black smoke. Before anyone could fully process what was happening, with an almighty "_BOOM!_", the broom exploded into pieces.

A few people standing by it, including Holly and Madam Clark, were knocked out by the sheer force of the explosion and sent to the hospital wing.

Naturally, when Holly had finally recovered and going to class again, free of the broken ribs and scratches that had came with the ordeal, she was excused from further flying lessons. But that didn't stop the rumors from flying around and the whisperings increased at least tenfold, people shying away from her in corridors as if afraid she was going to make them explode, too.

* * *

_Second Year: The Polyjuice Potion Mishap_

Christmas had come and went, meaning that Holly would have to go back to Hogwarts again. She got onto the train as fast as possible to find an empty compartment where she could sit. She poked her head into one, and found, to her great annoyance, it was occupied by three six-year boys she recognized as a Gryffindor prank-gang.

"Sorry." She murmured, attempting to take her head back before she was recognized.

Too late. One of the boys yelled after her as she moved off, "You're Harry Potter's granddaughter?"

Holly didn't answer but continued to walk away. The damage was probably already done, and those boys were most likely talking about her.

She finally managed to get a compartment to herself and locked the door to ward off unwanted visitors, as usual.

Unbeknown to Holly, a single hair had fallen from her head into the Gryffindor compartment. The one who yelled at her had spotted it, and was holding it up to the others, grinning mischievously.

The next few days of school passed without many events for Holly, except for the fact that people are still avoiding her as much as possible. That was, until one day, Professor Norwood, the current headmaster's voice rang out in the corridors, "Will Miss Holly Potter please come to the hospital wing?"

Thoroughly confused, Holly headed up to the hospital wing as the bell rang to signal the start of class. The nurse opened the door for her, and Holly was faced with the weirdest scene she's ever saw, and that's saying a lot.

The boy, that much was obvious, was sitting on a bed, looking disgruntled. He had bright red hair, black eyes, and pale milky skin. In other words, he was Holly's male replica.

"Judging by your expression, I'll take it that you know nothing about this?" Professor Norwood said grimly from behind Holly.

Holly nodded, her brain still frozen in shock. The boy was still glaring at Holly for some unknown reason, as if it was her fault for whatever happened to him.

"Let me explain how this happened. You see, Mr.… Ah…" Professor Norwood raised an eyebrow questioningly at the boy-Holly.

"Adam Mitchell, sir."

Holly got another shock. Adam's voice was almost identical as hers, just a little deeper.

"Ah, of course. Mr. Mitchell here apparently used your hair to brew a Polyjuice Potion to play a joke, but due to his faulty potion, he seemed to have…" The professor seemed to have no word for Adam's predicament.

"There was nothing wrong with my potion, that filthy little Slytherin did something to it, I know she did!" Adam practically screamed.

"My dear Mr. Mitchell, you can't possibly say that after seeing Miss Potter's reaction! I fail to see this is any fault but yours, unless you're accusing her of not being human. I do believe that Madam Jones will be able to sort you out in no time."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to escort Miss Potter back to class." Professor Norwood said after a pause in which he looked at Holly as if trying to read her mind. He walked out the door and gestured her to follow him.

Professor Norwood paused before opening the door to Holly's fifth-year transfiguration classroom door. "I have to ask you, Miss Potter, do you truly know nothing about the accident?"

"No, of course not!" Holly said, knowing that the professor probably wouldn't believe her. The headmaster nodded, though obviously not satisfied, and opened the door.

In the next few days, words spread about the accident. Surprisingly yet not so surprisingly, all the students seemed to think that Holly had done something, and the whispers started again.

* * *

_Third Year: Dementor Attack!_

The worst incident by far happened only a few months ago.

Holly had been looking forward to her first Hogsmead visit. Seriously, a whole village of wizards? That would be so awesome!

She was half-way to a cave in the mountains where Sirius Black was rumored to have hidden in when she felt it. A sudden coldness swept over her, leaving her shivering. She knew something was wrong because she never got cold anywhere. Looking up, she saw the problem: two dementors, 3 meters tall and covered in black, hooded cloaks, were making their way toward her. She screamed and attempted to outrun them to the village, but tripped on a root that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Knowing that she would have to fight her way out of this one, she whipped out her wand and pointed it at the oncoming dementors. She knew how to perform the Patronus Charm, but she had never used it on an actual dementor. She concentrated as hard as she could on the face of her only friend, Alice Park, as she shouted, "_Expecto Patronum!_"

Instantly, a silvery raven burst out of her wand tip and charged at the dementors. It was the dementor's turn to run this time. However, the raven pursued them until it caught up. The dementor actually exploded at the impact, splattering the mountainside with thick, icky goo.

Holly turned and saw that people had come to her aid at her scream. They were all simply gaping at her, not believing what they had just witnessed.

This prompted one of the worst whisperings Holly had to endure since coming to Hogwarts. Even the professors seemed scared of her. No one had ever managed to destroy a dementor before, not even the best wizards.

_Great, another first_, Holly thought gloomily.


	5. Chapter 4 A Raven in the Forest

**Title: The Ghost Queen**

**Author: Angela Ravenclaw**

**Rated: T**

**Warnings: Spoilers for… everything; violence & mild cussing**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable**

* * *

Chapter 4

A Raven in the Forest

The Forbidden Forest was dark and damp after the summer rain, filled with a refreshing smell of grass and flowers under the tall trees, moonlight slanting through the spaces between the leaves. A hooded figure was making its way to a small clearing, barely making any noise as it ventured through the leaf-strewn floor of the forest.

Holly had been coming here every week for the past three years, mostly just to get some time to herself, away from the people and whisperings at the castle. She always did it past curfew, when most people are sleeping and nobody would be thinking about coming to the forest.

Last summer, she began to read the theories of Animagi and became very interested in it. How cool would it be to be able to turn into an animal? It would be a great disguise with who knows how many other perks. If she understood it correctly, the form of an Animagus would be the same as the wizard's or witch's Patronus. She would even be able to fly if she ever succeeded, which is a plus in just about anyone's book.

Ever since she came back from the summer holidays, she's been using the time in the clearing to try to turn into a raven. There was no progress in the first few days; she had concentrated until her face turned purple with no success. The last few tries, however, ended up with her in the hospital wing, her arms turned into great black wings, once even covered from head to toe in feathers like a huge black chicken. Madam Jones had to pluck her like an actual chicken for the latter, which hurts _like hell_. Not to mention nobody believed her excuses and started whispering like crazy again.

She was determined to succeed, however. The promise was too great, and she had come too far to give up now. She sat down on a log and closed her eyes.

She felt as if an abyss of magic had opened up inside her. She struggled to keep it flowing through the veins in her body, but was almost scared off by the ferociousness of its lashing against her form. Remembering the pain of being plucked, she refused to back down this time, and felt it changing every tiny molecule of her, even reassembling her DNA. She got smaller and smaller, arms turning into jet-black wings, hair and clothes turning into feathers, until, for the first time, a rather small raven stood proudly on the now-huge-in-comparison log.

She let out a cry of pleasure, and was surprised by the croakiness of it. Her head turned every possible way to admire her brand-new body covered in shiny, jet-black feathers. Spreading her wings and flapped experimentally, she found herself being easily lifted into the sky by the powerful strokes.

She circled the forest and castle, relishing in the feeling of the wind beneath her wings, the school grounds spread beneath her like a colorful rug. She looked up and saw that the stars seemed much closer, almost as if she would touch them if she just fly a little higher. She flew around until she could see the sun coming out behind the mountain, and settled down in the clearing where she had started.

She tried to morph back into human, remembering all those times where people have failed to change back, and found herself sitting again with not a trace of feather on her, 100% human again. She gave a small whoop of laughter at this. She must be officially the youngest Animagus ever! Not that it was so surprising, actually, considering all her other achievements. Nevertheless, that was so cool!

Still laughing at tonight's experience, Holly made her way back to the castle for a few more hours of sleep, unaware that someone else was sharing her joy in a cave four thousand miles away on a different continent.

That someone decided it was time for him to get ready for her at a certain camp for demigods.

* * *

**If anyone's wondering why Zeus didn't blast her out of the sky, don't worry, all will be explained in due time, though you might be able to guess it yourself. :)**


	6. Chapter 5 Bludgers & Prophecies

**Title: The Ghost Queen**

**Author: Angela Ravenclaw**

**Rated: T**

**Warnings: Spoilers for… everything; violence & mild cussing**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable**

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Chapter 5

Bludgers & Prophecies

Another month had come and went, and Holly was again lying in the hospital wing, being hit by a rogue bludger at the Quidditch Final, Slytherin vs. Gryffindor. Slytherin won narrowly, not that it mattered to the moaning Holly who was currently clutching her head. Who knew that even watching Quidditch could be so dangerous? Seriously, whoever came up with the idea of having children play the goddamned sport should be hit in the head with a bat a thousand times over. Madam Jones, bless her, had managed to repair the cracked skull with a wave of her wand, but since the concussion wasn't as easy to get rid of, Holly had to stay in for the night.

She was hoping to sneak into the forest again tonight to practice her Animagus skills tonight again. She was getting better at it, now she was able to transform in only a few seconds at a moment's notice. She wasn't sure what practical use it would be, to tell the truth, but it was sure quite fun to be able to fly higher than the Astronomy Tower and look down at Hogwarts. She wondered if she should register, then shook her head to herself, causing another wave of pain inside her head. It would be best to keep it to herself, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew were proof of that. She tried not to think about what happened to them.

She was about to doze off when she heard the door being swung open. Ignoring her head's protest, she lifted herself from her bed slightly to see what was going on. To her surprise, she saw the Divination teacher, Professor Imago, standing in the doorway. She was in the said professor's class, despite the warnings of her family members, and found herself regretting it. Probably not more than she would if she had chosen Care of Magical Creatures, though, since the animals all hated her. Even as it was dark she couldn't see him very clearly, she could tell that he seemed to be in some sort of trance, if the unusual rigidness of his posture was anything to go by. It looked as if he was sleep-walking. At least, until he started to walk toward Holly, right hand lifting toward her and rasping in a loud, harsh voice, "_The Ghost Queen…_"

Holly was frozen, still half-lifted in her bed with her head throbbing painfully, not having the faintest idea of what to do. Madam Jones had gone to wherever she lived in the castle to sleep, so no one except her would have heard Professor Imago. She wondered if she should shout for someone to get this lunatic away from her, but found herself unable to use her voice due to the shock. As she thought this over in her head, Professor Imago drew steadily closer to her, allowing her to get a better look at him.

Holly had always thought the Divination professor as crazy-looking, with his electric-blue hair that stuck out like octopus tentacles and his completely bizarre taste in clothes, but this was going way too far. His eyes were rolling in their sockets, his mouth sagging, combined with his hairdo and turtle pajamas, he looked positively alarming. He continued in the same harsh voice, Holly still immobilized in her bed:

"_Child of death, beware of the ones you call friends… For Magic shall betray, Lightning shall lie, and Fire shall burn… The Sorcerer shall rise again, greater and more powerful than ever before… But an evil lurks in the shadows, one that none knows about… Beware, Ghost Queen, Beware…_"

He turned away, still in the same dream-walking-ish trance, and walked toward the doorway. Holly finally got over her shock and was able to lie back down on her bed. Turning away from the doorway, she wondered vaguely if she was losing her mind.

* * *

The next morning, Holly woke up, feeling not very refreshed, but the concussion was gone and she was ready to face the day. Madam Jones fussed over her a bit, and finding no more problems, let her go a bit reluctantly.

She headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. She spotted Professor Imago on her way, and yelled, "Hello, professor! Did you sleep well last night?"

"Quite well, thank you. You too?" The professor said, looking rather taken aback at his student's new-found willingness to talk to people.

Holly frowned slightly. So, he had no memory of what happened last night?

"Yeah, thanks!" She answered.

Holly was very confused. Was it all just a dream? Or maybe a concussion-induced-hallucination? She _knew_ her imagination wasn't that good, though. Maybe the bludger did something to her head?

For now, Holly decided to put the matter to the back of her head. She hoped that someday it would all make sense.

* * *

**I'd like to give thanks to anyone who has Followed, Favorited, or Reviewed my story. Seriously, I never thought people would like this thing!**

**Sorry about the bad prophecy. I'm not good at rhyming, and I don't have the whole story in my head, so I decided to do a wizard's prophecy, which doesn't rhyme and is vaguer than the Oracle's ones.**

**Merry Christmas, everyone! :)**


	7. Chapter 6 Camp Half-Blood

**Title: The Ghost Queen**

**Author: Angela Ravenclaw**

**Rated: T**

**Warnings: Spoilers for… everything; violence & mild cussing**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable**

* * *

Chapter 6

Camp Half-Blood

"C'mon, up you get!" Aunt Rose said to Holly, trying to shake her awake. The alarm clock had already gone off, but Holly just hit the snooze button and rolled over. Unfortunately, her aunt was having none of that.

"Five more minutes…" Holly grumbled under her cover, so that all Aunt Rose got was "Mmm…"

Today was the first day of the summer holidays. Holly had been looking forward to having some time to herself, but nooo, her aunt just had to sign her up for some stupid summer camp and mess up her plan (which was to sit around all day doing absolutely nothing).

Aunt Rose shook her still harder, saying, "Get up, you don't want to keep the camp directors waiting, do you?"

"_All right!_" Holly groaned as she threw the cover roughly off her and started to get dressed, shooting Aunt Rose her signature death-glare. She was pleased to see that her aunt seemed to shiver a little under the look.

She finished her morning cleaning routine and grabbed a bagel from the table. Sitting down in a chair, she watched as her aunt bustled around the kitchen doing whatever she always did.

"So, I suppose you're not going to tell me what I'm gonna do at this camp, are you?" Holly said for the umpteenth time. All Aunt Rose told her was that it wasn't a wizard camp and not to tell anyone about her magic.

"No." Came the curt reply.

Holly rolled her eyes. Aunt Rose just _loved_ making her wonder. She wondered if it was the result of reading way too many mystery novels. Her aunt had whole bookshelves full of them. Too bad she couldn't pull off the whole "mysterious gal" act like Holly could.

* * *

Aunt Rose took her on Side-Along Apparation to get to the camp. Holly was more than capable of Apparating herself, but laws are laws, so she could only take the test after she reached seventeen.

"Well, this is where I leave you. See that tree? That's the property line. Go over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse. The camp directors should be inside. Bye!" Aunt Rose said, eyes darting around the wooded hills and farmhouses as if a monster might be charging out from behind a tree at anytime. She looked extremely nervous for some reason. A huge pine stood proudly at the crest of the nearest hill, looking slightly out-of-place among the much smaller trees that littered the place.

With a loud _Crack_, Aunt Rose Disapparated, leaving Holly standing alone with all the luggage to carry herself.

"Thanks for telling me where I am." Holly muttered, frowning to herself. She didn't understand why her aunt, who was usually pretty calm and collected, was acting all weird and jittery. Or why she left her in the middle of nowhere, for that matter. Was this camp really that bad? If so, why did Aunt Rose, who was always very nice to her, send her to this place? None of this made any sense.

She signed and started walking toward the pine tree. She'll just put the matter on her "Mystery List", which size was really getting alarming. Yep, that sure was the understatement of the year.

* * *

The farmhouse was a four-story manor painted baby-blue with a white trim with a porch that went all the way around it. There were lounge chairs a card table, and an empty wheelchair on the porch. From what Holly could see, the place looked pretty normal, except for maybe the nymph-shaped wind-chimes that turned into trees as they spin. Holly raised her eyebrows. Wasn't this place supposed to be a muggle camp?

She looked around and saw, to her great surprise, the place was filled with ancient Greek buildings, only these weren't crumbling and looked brand-new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. There were high-school aged kids and what looked like people with goat legs running all over the place, all dressed in bright orange T-shirts that said something Holly couldn't make out, doing things like shooting arrows and canoeing. Some rode horses down a wooden trail, and, unless the bludger incident's after-effects lingered to this day, some of their horses had wings. No, it wasn't weird at all for muggles to be riding magical horses. She thought she was beginning to understand why Aunt Rose didn't want to go near this place. It sure messed with your head.

She looked down at the card Aunt Rose had given her before they left home. It took her a while to decipher the writing on it due to her dyslexia (A pain in the butt, but she managed school with her supreme magical skills. More than managed, one might say). So, the camp's name is Camp Half-Blood. She felt her eyebrows rise even higher. She _was_ a half-blood in the wizarding world, with her mom a half-blood and her dad a muggle, but they didn't know that, did they?

The camp director's name was Percy Jackson. Finally, something normal. It was just a name, but she'll take it.

"Um… Mr. Jackson?" Holly called out.

She heard footsteps on the front-porch. No – not footsteps – hooves.

Before she realized what that meant, a centaur burst onto the front porch. Holly was once again taken aback. Why the hell did this place have a centaur if it wasn't a wizard camp?

This particular centaur, however, was better dressed than his British counterparts, who wore pretty much nothing at all and had wild hair and beards. His human part had curly brown hair and a well-trimmed beard, and wore a T-shirt that said _World's Best Centaur_. Holly had a feeling that the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest wouldn't be too happy about that. From the waist down, he was a pure white stallion.

The centaur said as he galloped toward Holly, "Hello, I'm Chiron, the camp's activity director. Percy isn't here today, so…"

He stopped dead as he caught sight of Holly. The color all but drained out of his face as he stared at her.

"You… You're a witch."

* * *

It took Holly an hour-long lecture and a PG-13 rated film for her to understand what was going on. She summarized it into: the Greek gods were still around and still liked to have kids with mortals, which resulted in her being there that day. Her missing dad was apparently a god. That was _really _a lot to take in, even for Holly. In fact, she was so shell-shocked at first she couldn't make any noise for approximately five minutes. When she finally did, it came out as a squeak. Or maybe a bad tape noise. As for where she was, she was at Camp Half-Blood, Long Island Sound, New York.

Chiron didn't tell her anything about the relationship of gods and the magical population, except for the fact that they mostly ignored each other. He looked so freaked out about the whole thing that Holly didn't pursue the matter. He had even made Holly swear on the River Styx not to tell anyone about the existence of witches and wizards.

"Well, I guess that's it for now." The centaur said, leaning against the back of the wheelchair, looking relived to finally be able to get rid of her, "I'll call Alyssa to give you a tour around our camp."

Just then, the door of the Big House opened and someone walked in. He looked like he was in his twenties, tall and thin, with unruly black hair like he's just rolled out of bed and bright blue eyes. He, like all the campers Holly's seen outside, was wearing an orange T-shirt. This time, Holly was close enough to make out the words _Camp Half-Blood_ on it.

"Ah, you're just in time! This is Holly Potter, our new camper. Mind introducing yourself?" Chiron exclaimed. The centaur turned to Holly with a stern look in his eyes, like the _Remember what I told you, don't spill the beans!_ kind of look. Yeah, like she was planning to after knowing about the River Styx.

The new camper didn't seem to notice anything at all. He was looking Holly up and down with an assessing look in his eyes. It gave Holly the feeling that she was being X-rayed. Then, without warning, his face split into a wide grin and he held out his hand, saying, "Hi, Holly. I'm Emrys Madison, senior counselor of the Hecate cabin."

* * *

**Yes, Chiron knew about Holly but not Merlin. I'm not ignoring the problem, and will address it in future chapters. Until then, feel free to make up your own assumptions! :)**

**Hope you guys all had a lovely Christmas!**


	8. Chapter 7 The Issue with Friends

**Title: The Ghost Queen**

**Author: Angela Ravenclaw**

**Rated: T**

**Warnings: Spoilers for… everything; violence & mild cussing**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable**

* * *

Chapter 7

The Issue with Friends

Holly's head was spinning. She still hadn't fully processed the idea of her father being a Greek god. Sure, she's read tons of Greek mythology stories (or rather heard them, she never read if she could avoid it) in the muggle world, but she had never thought that they might be real. In a matter of hours, her life had turned upside down and left her reeling. It was simply impossible

Yet, it kind of made sense. Her extraordinary magic skills had to come from somewhere, and it wasn't from a family of ordinary witches and wizards. Well, not so ordinary, considering her grandfather was Harry Potter, but hey, the guy wasn't exactly famous for his magical abilities. More like his apparent inability to die, to tell the truth.

The situation raised more questions than it answered, however. Who the heck was her dad, for one? From what Chiron had said, Greek gods and the wizarding world pretty much ignored each other, so how did her dad know her mom? And why didn't he do something to save her mom from whatever killed her? All these questions and more swam around her head, making her want to keel over on the spot from the dizziness.

The tiny, almost nonexistent part of her brain that wasn't preoccupied with the shock and confusion made her stretch out her hand to take Emrys's, plaster a very forced smile onto her face, and managed to control her lips to form one single "Hi".

Emrys, sensing that Holly wasn't grasping the situation very well, laughed and said, "Don't worry. The shock wears off for the new campers in a few days at most. You'll get use to the idea once you see all the cool stuff we get to do."

Chiron chose that moment to interrupt, "Well, Emrys here is one of the oldest campers at this camp. You're welcome to find him if you have any questions, though I'm sure the other counselors won't mind you asking them, either. I'm going to call Alyssa now and ask her to give you a tour around the camp. Emrys, mind giving me a hand?"

Emrys signed and waved his hand, closing his eyes in process. However, Holly caught a glint of gold beneath his eyelids as a rainbow appeared out of nowhere in front of Chiron. Huh, that was weird. Sometimes, when Holly had somehow managed to cast a spell without her wand, her eyes felt hot and people sometimes (meaning if they weren't afraid of her) told her that her usually black eyes had turned gold. Maybe it was common among Greek sorcerers or something?

Whatever the case, Chiron didn't seem to notice, or if he did he didn't find it worth his attention. His eyes focused on the rainbow, the centaur tossed a golden coin about the same size and shape as a galleon into it, saying, "_O Iris, goddess of rainbow, accept my offering. Show me Alyssa Wu at Camp Half-Blood._"

Instantly, a girl appeared in the rainbow, and Holly stepped back slightly in surprise. So this was how these people communicate. Holly had guessed from the lack of electronics at the place that demigods and technology didn't mix, just like witchcraft, which was confirmed by Chiron when she voiced it out. This was probably a good thing since she wasn't exactly up to date with the muggle society because of all these years at Hogwarts.

The figure in the rainbow appeared to be a pretty Asian girl with a head band and a pony-tail. She looked about Holly's age. The girl looked like she was reading something, but stopped when she noticed whatever appeared on her side. "Hi, Chiron! Another newbie?" She asked, apparently used to this kind of thing.

"Yes. I would like you to take Holly here on a tour. Holly, this is Alyssa Wu. Her mother is Athena's daughter and her father is Aphrodite's son." Chiron said.

"Hey, Holly! I'll come right down." Alyssa said, and slashed her hand across the connection, which seemed to shut it out.

"Don't worry. Alyssa's really nice. She handles all the new campers, and you'll see why in a moment." Emrys said to Holly, winking.

* * *

Turned out, the guy had a good reason for saying that. Alyssa knew the camp very well, having been here for three summers already, and seemed to know all its occupants. She provided both quality conversation and juicy gossips on everyone. Guess it was in her blood, having both Athena and Aphrodite as grandmas.

"So, what happens when we get claimed?" Holly said. She didn't really talk much to people, but she was really warming up to Alyssa and figured she would make a cool friend. Plus, the girl reminded her of her friend back in L.A., Alice. From what Alyssa said, Holly figured they must be both complete nerds. They were both very friendly, and didn't treat Holly like a disease. Come to think of it, even their names sounded similar.

"Well, usually you just get some sort of sign from your godly parent; it depends on who they are. Sometimes, but it's not very often, demigods show some forms of unique talent before that can happen, so there will be no need to get claimed. I'm sorry, it's not really my business, but has anything happened to you that is, you know, unusual?" Alyssa said.

_Believe me, you won't believe me._ Holly thought, stifling a snigger. Instead, she just said, "Nope, not yet anyways. So, whose cabin do you usually stay in?"

"The Athena cabin. Don't go near the Aphrodite cabin if you don't want to trigger your gag reflex, by the way."

The rest of the tour passed with Alyssa making remarks about a few cabins and their occupants. Just to give a few examples, she described the Ares kids as "a bunch of big, burly guys with vacant expressions and a very bad habit of trying to decapitate anyone they meet", and a certain Aphrodite girl as "so hot the firefighters make her stop, drop and roll". Sarcastically for the latter, of course. She apologized in advance if she had somehow insulted her future siblings.

The Big Three cabins, except for Hades, were filled with kids. Guess ol' Zeus and Poseidon were happy for the freedom after that vow a few decades ago. Hades, however, had only one kid inside his cabin. Why he didn't act like his brothers and jump at his chance of harassing mortal women, no one knew.

By the end of the tour, Holly was pretty much up-to-date about everything that was going on at the demigod camp, thanks to the wonderful commentary of Alyssa Wu. She was placed temporarily at Hermes cabin, which was, as always, most crowded, though there was an improvement since the god's promises to claim their kids before thirteen. That meant she would probably get claimed soon.

As she was settling down on her bunk, she sighed to herself. Even if she managed to make friends here, she would still have to keep a huge secret from them. Maybe, just maybe, she could persuade Chiron to let her tell her siblings after she was claimed? Or maybe one or two of her best friends? It would hurt so much if she couldn't even tell _them_.

Until then, she didn't think it would be wise to get too close to anyone. Not even Alyssa.


	9. Chapter 8 Thoughts & Weapons

**Title: The Ghost Queen**

**Author: Angela Ravenclaw**

**Rated: T**

**Warnings: Spoilers for… everything; violence & mild cussing**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable**

* * *

Chapter 8

Thoughts & Weapons

Merlin walked out onto the strawberry fields, thinking deeply. Chiron had just called him under the pretense of discussing the plans for the Hecate cabin and new campers. In reality, the centaur had tried to grill him for answers as he had always did whenever they talk. Chiron was too old and too wise not to notice anything unusual about him, but, hey, he himself was only a few centuries younger than the being in question and had plenty of practice in the field. He wasn't going to cave in that easily.

What had almost completely occupied his mind was the fact that he had just met the teenage Holly Potter in person. She looked just like the girl he's seen in his scrying bowl, but a lot less like the crying baby he had dug out of the rubbles that had been her home all those years ago, her mother dead at her side. Thirteen years and he was still _very_ angry at Zeus for robbing the little girl of her mother for something beyond her own control. It was by a lucky miracle that Lily had managed to put up a shield strong enough so quickly.

There had only ever been three incidents where a demigod with any non-Greek magical power was born, and the last one was killed in its mother's womb a few hundred years ago. Merlin didn't even get to find out if it was a boy or a girl.

It was sad how the Old Religion declined and the magical population had to rely completely on wands, with only a mere fraction of the power of the sorcerers and sorceresses of the old days. Merlin had watched its progress, slowly but surely over the centuries, unable to age or die. Sometimes, he wished that he could just grow old and die like everyone else, to avoid seeing the ones that he loved being torn from him. He wasn't even sure how he was still alive after all these years, or if there was a limit to his immortality, or even which afterlife he would go to if he ever died. He had long since accepted that his life would be a mixture of mysteries and confusions, but it still frustrated him slightly that he wouldn't be able to get any answers for most of his questions. He was sure, however, that Holly would be able to have full access to the power of the Old Religion, from everything he's seen while scrying.

Merlin wasn't sure how he could protect Holly from his father. Zeus believed that the girl was killed alongside her mother when he threw that lightning bolt, but if word reached him that she's survived… He shuddered to think what would happen. He was sure that Chiron had warned Holly about not telling people about wizards and whatnot, but was that enough? He himself had trouble controlling his own magic sometimes, and, heck, he had fifteen centuries of practice!

Holly certainly wasn't going to believe him if he just simply rip his mask off and present himself as Merlin from the legends, coming to protect her. He almost snorted out loud at the thought. That probably would have earned him a decade in a rubber room wearing a straitjacket. So, back to acting from the shadows then. He sighed inwardly. Will his ever be able to be rid of all these secrets and lies?

He hadn't had the chance to check on Holly since he came to Camp Half-Blood two months ago, but he didn't think of it as much of a problem. Surely, he couldn't have missed anything important in a couple of months of absence. He didn't believe that even his luck could have been that bad.

Too bad it was.

* * *

Holly was standing in front of a big metal shed at the side of the Athena cabin. Alyssa told her to wait for her there, but she didn't say why, just that Holly was in for a surprise and not to do anything until she got there.

"Hi, there!" Alyssa called, bouncing down the stairs of the Athena cabin.

"Hey." Holly said simply, thinking back to the promise she made to herself about not making friends. She was doing a pretty good job so far.

"Okay, be ready for the surprise of your life!" Alyssa said cheerfully, unlocking the door. Holly could see that she noticed her half-hearted tone, even though Holly thought it wasn't obvious, but neither commented on it.

Looking into the open door, Holly gasped involuntarily. The shed was lined with all sorts of weapons, everything from branch-like clubs to all sorts of high-tech… thingies that she didn't know the name of. There were also elegant bows and sheaths of arrows, razor-sharp swords and daggers that looked as if they were polished yesterday gleaming wickedly on the side. The only weapon in the whole world that was missing here, as far as Holly knew, was a wand.

"Every demigod needs a weapon. Hephaestus makes the best, but it's mostly us Athena kids who're in charge of matching the right person with the right weapon." Alyssa said.

"Cool place, isn't it?" said a deep voice from behind Holly. She turned around to see Emrys striding in. Holly nodded numbly, still in shock at seeing so many beautiful weapons (if weapons could be beautiful). If she had paid more attention, she would have noticed a shadow passing through Alyssa's face. The descendent of Athena quickly wiped the look from her face before anyone noticed and smiled at Emrys, saying, "Hey, there! What are you doing here, Emrys?"

"I saw the place open and guessed that Holly's selecting her new weapon, since she's the only new camper around here. Hey, Holly, try this!" Emrys said, handing the said camper a sword. Holly nearly buckled under its weight.

Holly remembered the day she got herself a wand. Mr. Ollivander, whose family had been in the wandlore business for generations, had nearly ripped through the whole store trying to find her a wand. That was quite an hour, waving wands in the air, and having them torn away when nothing happened. Finally, Mr. Ollivander decided to "go crazy" and handed Holly "a very unusual wand", or so he said. Pine and thestral tail hair, 13 inches, unyielding. The thestral tail hair was always deemed unstable, and the Ollivander family hadn't used it as a wand core for centuries. This particular wand, the wandmaker said, was made at least a thousand years ago, but it would claim no one. The moment Holly touched it, however, black and gold sparks burst out of the wand tip, almost making Ollivander faint with surprise and excitement. Thankfully, he didn't, at least not until Holly had paid her 7 galleons and was well on her way.

Finding her the right demigod weapon was just as hard, if not harder, than finding her a wand. Emrys and Alyssa kept handing her weapons, but nothing felt… well, right in her hands. The hundreds of weapons in the shed were beginning to look like a heavy burden as the trio rummaged through them. What was the point if none was meant for Holly? Oops, that sounded kind of selfish.

Just as they were about to give up and search another day, Holly caught sight of something that gained her interest. A small pistol sat on a table, looking inconspicuous next to all the other shiny weapons. Holly picked it up, and found that the handle fitted beautifully in her hand. Small, easy to conceal, quick to use and she's had lots of practice aiming with a wand, so she would probably be able to handle a gun. At least, she certainly hoped so. There weren't any elegant carvings or anything on the gun like the bows and some of the swords. Cool, handy, and simple. What else could you ask for in a weapon? Well, except for magical.

"You like that?" Emrys asked, looking slightly surprised.

"Mmm… I think it suits her." Alyssa said, "Holly, if you want it, it's yours. It's brand-new invention of the Hephaestus cabin, so it would be 100% silent and there would be no outward sign that you fired the gun if you ever do."

"That's settled then." Holly said, pleased with her choice.

Even thought she didn't need a gun to kill someone.

* * *

**Sorry about the late update (well, late for the holidays). This chapter is kind of hard to write for me for some reason. I'll be back to school pretty soon, so expect weekly updates then!**


	10. Chapter 9 The Campers

**Title: The Ghost Queen**

**Author: Angela Ravenclaw**

**Rated: T**

**Warnings: Spoilers for… everything; violence & mild cussing**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable**

* * *

Chapter 9

The Campers

Over the course of the next few weeks, Holly got acquainted with more kids at camp. No one seemed particularly willing to be her friend, or even to be near her, which was all fine by Holly. Well, no one except for Alyssa, who seemed to get along with pretty much everyone exceptionally well. Guess it was just a gift.

That didn't mean there weren't plenty of interesting people around, though. Holly soon discovered that every cabin had a unique… style, for lack of a better word.

The worst cabin was probably the Ares cabin. The kids there were almost exactly as Alyssa described, except for the "decapitate anyone they meet" part, and Holly was pretty sure that they would have even lived up to that reputation if they wouldn't get into trouble for doing so. They had already tried dunking Holly's head into the toilet as a sort of "traditional welcoming ceremony", but she was too quick and clever (and also_ psst_ magical) for that. Those kids literally didn't know what hit them when they started tripping over random objects that seemed to pop out of nowhere, and they somehow ended up fighting each other with shrieks of "You tripped me!" instead of attempting introduce Holly's head to the scummy water. She didn't even need to use magic to slip through them once they started, and was in tears from laughing by the end of that incident. Hey, Holly had only promised not to tell anyone anything about witches and wizards, and that doesn't include using magic in front of people too stupid to notice. She sincerely hoped that she wasn't too closely related to those morons. Too bad she would have to share the same gene pool with them whoever her parent is. The world of Greek mythology was just messed up that way. Then again, Greek gods didn't have DNA… Oh, gods, this was giving her a headache.

The Aphrodite cabin was a close second. Holly didn't believe that the said cabin could be as bad as Alyssa had said, and went to check it out the next morning since Alyssa refused to go there during the tour. She was very grateful that she decided to go there _before_ breakfast, or she would have lost it all right in front of the door. Holly wasn't sure how everyone inside the cabin in question dealt with the frilly Barbie Doll House design and the smell, or rather stench in this case, of perfume, but she wasn't keen to find out. She instantly felt glad to be sure of the fact that her godly parent couldn't be Aphrodite since it was her dad. She soon found out that a lot of the people in there were just as repulsive. They were so vain and obsessed with make-up they made Professor Glelimma (just think of her as the Gilderoy Lockhart of Holly's generation) seem modest, and that's saying _a hell lot_. Some of the others weren't _too_ bad, though.

The rest of the kids were nicer, some more than others. Most of the counselors weren't too bad, like Justin Carr from the Hephaestus cabin and Marshall Conner from the Apollo cabin. They seemed to at least make an effort not to treat Holly like a disease, though they fail at a variety of levels. On the other hand, the counselors from the Ares and Aphrodite made absolutely no effort at all.

The Athena brainiacs were nice enough, even though they probably spent more time with books than actual humans. Holly wasn't surprised when she found out that Alyssa had always considered herself an Athena kid and was in fact their senior counselor. She didn't really appreciate people pointing out her resemblance to the Aphrodite bunch (such as the obsession with gossips, the ability to read people very well… Alyssa would kill Holly if she knew what she was thinking). The Athena kids were mostly very helpful and eager to share their knowledge, which earned them the title of "show-offs".

The triplets, Alba, Celia, and Rocio from the Poseidon cabin were an interesting bunch (mostly because, well, they were the only triplets at the place). They were actually born in Spain, but they've been moving all around the world since they were a few months old and finally settled down in New York a few weeks ago. No one, including themselves, was all that sure they wouldn't move again. The triplets were very good friends with Alyssa, and didn't seem to mind Holly as much as some other people.

The only camper at the Hades cabin, Michael Kay, was not what you'd expect of a death god's child. Ten years old with blond hair, the kid's naturally hyper and seemed to live off a diet of sugar and caffeine, which didn't help the other people's sanity. Holly heard that most of the kids that's been in there were somber and quiet, which was the exact opposite of its current occupant. Holly realized that since he was the only one in there, he would be the counselor of the Hades cabin. She wondered vaguely if they simply never told him when there was a counselor meeting, or they would probably never decide anything before everyone's heads exploded from the annoying chatter.

Most of the kids in the Hecate cabin seemed slightly delusional, with them painting multi-colored runes that didn't make any sense to anyone all over the place. Holly envied how they could do magic anywhere while everyone was watching, but she thought she understood Chiron's reasoning: if she exposed the secrets of witches and wizards to all of these kids, who knew what could happen? Nothing good, that was for sure. She really hoped that her godly parent was Hecate so she could have an excuse for doing magic, but, alas, that couldn't happen as she already knew her mom was mortal. She wasn't sure if it was jealousy or if those kids really were creeping her out, but whenever she saw someone from the Hecate cabin, the word "weirdo" always somehow made its way to her brain.

However weird and abnormal the rest of the Hecate cabin was, their counselor Emrys Madison was definitely in a class of his own. Well, to Holly, he seemed more mysterious than weird. That didn't mean that he wasn't weird, though. He was probably still weirder than other kids in his cabin… Okay, okay, I'll stop babbling now and give you a few examples: A) Holly saw him trip over thin air once. According to Alyssa, it took a lot skill to do that. B) He rarely showed up for any social activity, which struck Holly as very odd since he didn't seem like an anti-social person to her. It made her wonder where he'd gone off to. C) His American accent was all nice and perfected for most people, but Holly sometimes heard him muttering to himself in a way so old-fashioned Holly wondered if it was English or not. D) Holly noticed that none of the other Hecate kids had their eyes turned gold when they do magic. She was kind of pissed to have her first theory proven wrong, but the most important thing was, what did that mean? Were he and Holly genetically mutant or something? Or was he a wizard? If that was the case, why didn't Chiron allow her to talk about her own powers with him? For now, though, Holly decided not dwell much on these questions. The guy was nice enough to her, not to mention that she would never reach a conclusion on her own and probably drive herself insane. Besides, it's not like they were at war or anything.

Holly sighed as she plopped onto her bunk at the Hermes cabin. She heard that a lot of kids got claimed as soon as they stepped into camp, but, unfortunately, that didn't happen for her. Whoever her dad was, he had already made the impression of an irresponsible parent on his daughter.

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**I apologize for the late update and the not-so-exciting chapter. My pathetic excuse for an excuse: homework and SSAT. The real action will begin next chapter. I hope.**

**Most of the names are random. Some of them are my friends', but since none of them seems to be particularly interested in fanfiction as far as I know, I don't think I would get into trouble for abusing them. Not that I plan to, but... Who knows? XP**


	11. Chapter 10 Capture The Flag

**Title: The Ghost Queen**

**Author: Angela Ravenclaw**

**Rated: T**

**Warnings: Spoilers for… everything; violence & mild cussing**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable**

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Chapter 10

Capture The Flag

"Heroes!" Chiron called from the front of the pavilion, "You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No intentional killing or maiming! I will serve as a referee and battlefield medic. All magical items are allowed…"

At this point, Chiron's eyes travelled to the back of the pavilion and rested on Holly. They narrowed slightly. Holly nodded to show that she understood what he was trying to say. Of course, that last sentence of the speech did not apply to her wand. Not that she needed it, anyway.

"… Arm yourselves, everyone!" The centaur finished and spread his hands. At once, the dining tables were filled with all sorts of weapons.

Today was Holly's second time playing the game in a month. Last time, she had the misfortune to be paired with _both_ the Ares cabin and the Aphrodite cabin. That particular incident didn't exactly go over all that well, as it ended up with Holly losing her temper with her teammates and subconsciously letting her temper our on a nearby tree, which instantly fell down and nearly squashed all of them. The accident was put down to mice infestation, which not everyone bought. That tree did look _very_ healthy, after all.

This time, the Hermes cabin's partners were much better, since it includes the Athena cabin and the Big Three cabins. Holly hoped that she would be paired with Alyssa to do something. Sure, the girl was completely hopeless at anything athletic, but at least Holly wouldn't be tempted to kill her. Besides, Alyssa was the smartest kid at camp. Not one of the. Simply _the_.

She put on her armor and picked up her shield and dagger (there's an unspoken agreement not to bring guns), closing her eyes to hide the flash of gold she knew would be present. Instantly, the equipments felt as light as feathers. Holly smirked to herself. This would give her quite an advantage. Normally, she couldn't run very fast, but compared to the other kids who had to carry the whole weight of the 100 kilo armor and shield, she would be like a cheetah.

"Hey, Holly!" Adam Lucina, the Hermes counselor yelled as he ran toward her, armor clanging heavily all the way, "We'll need you to guard the flag."

"Oh, no. Who am I with?" Holly asked, disappointed. The position was one of the most boring of the game. The others would be out there having all the fun while she was stuck watching the stupid flag. With their allies, she was pretty sure she could fall asleep and they'd still win the game. Well, at least if she got paired with one of her more-or-less friends, she would have someone to talk to. She had her fingers crossed and was thinking desperately. _Please be Alyssa, please be Alyssa!_

"Emrys Madison. You know him, right? Counselor of the Hecate cabin?" Adam said, sounding as if Holly should be honored to be paired with a counselor.

Holly nodded, and Adam moved on to give the next kid his position.

Right after he was out of earshot, Holly slammed her head into the shield and groaned. As far as she was concerned, Emrys and she had a pretty simple relationship. She knew he was weird, he knew she knew it, and vise versa. They said "hi" to each other, but that was it. She wasn't friends with him, and probably never will be.

The reason she didn't want to see him was that she accidentally shot him with an arrow last week. It was common knowledge that, for some reason, she was great with guns but can't use a bow and arrow to save her life, but still, that was more than a little embarrassing. One of the triplets (she couldn't tell who) said that Emrys wasn't angry anymore, but this would be the first time they had to acknowledge each other since the incident. She thought about calling Adam back and forcing him to give her some other job, but she knew he wouldn't. The son of Hermes was unbelievably stubborn and one of the biggest assholes at camp.

This could get awkward.

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The evening was insanely hot with not even a cool breeze. Everyone was feeling dehydrated and soaked in sweat within the first few minutes of the game. Holly didn't even bother to magic herself dry. It probably wouldn't have helped much anyway.

She and Emrys were positioned around a huge tree with their team's flag on top, looking out for any suspicious activity. The people's fighting sounded very far away. So far, the only living, moving thing in that part of the woods beside them was a Hermes kid who had ran past them screaming with his blue horsehair plume cut off. Holly guessed that he must have chickened out of the main fight. Not that she blamed him, with all those Ares kids around.

"Anything interesting?" Emrys called.

"You mean besides that kid who just ran past us? Nope, nothing." Holly said. She sat down, leaning against a rather large boulder and muttering to herself, "This is so boring. Why should we be stuck with this crappy job?" Well, in all fairness, she wouldn't have liked any other job, either. She just hated the game in general.

Emrys, who apparently didn't hear her muttered comment, yelled back, "I'm going to climb the tree to see better!"

The next few minutes past without anything happening. The sounds of battle were actually getting fainter, as if they were moving away from where the flag was. Holly was so bored, she seriously considered falling asleep right there right then. Any dream she would have was bound to be more interesting than this.

Suddenly, Emrys shouted from above her head, "Holly, someone's coming!"

The girl he was calling was just about to doze off, but her natural battle-reflexes kicked in and she was standing before her brain had fully processed the information.

Three people with red plumes stood before her, two people armed with swords and one with bows and arrows. One look told her that they were all Ares kids. How and where these idiots suddenly got the brains and skills to slip past their defenses (designed by the Athena kids) undetected, the world may never find out. All Holly cared about at the moment was how the heck she was going to get out of this situation alive, preferably with all her limbs attached. Even with Emrys as her backup, she was pretty sure they couldn't fight off these goons if they came at the flag all at once. Not without magic, anyway.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Holly Potter, the little girl who keeps humiliating our cabin." Sneered he girl with the arrows, Kareen.

_Keep them talking_, a part Holly's brain that wasn't frozen with shock and fear told her, _keep their attention away from the flag, try to stall as long as possible_. _Are you insane?_ Another part of her brain shouted, almost making Holly wince. _Your life is in danger and you're worried about the stupid flag? Run away while you can!_

"Holly?" The voice of her partner jerked her attention away from the voices in her head. She turned around, slightly startled to see Emrys, who had climbed down from the tree without her noticing, looking at her. However, he didn't look panicked or scared, as pretty much any other person in his position would have looked. Instead, he looked… questioning, curious, and almost challenging, as if he had placed bets on how Holly would react and was waiting for the outcome.

For some reason, this shook Holly right out of her frozen state. She steeled her nerves, and said to Kareen, in a voice so calm and cool it surprised herself, "I couldn't have done it without your help."

The two big guys with swords looked at Kareen, apparently waiting for an order. It was clear that they thought Holly would run as soon as they showed up. The face of the daughter of Ares turned a brilliant shade of reddish purple, making her already unattractive face even uglier. Holly was sure that she would have shot her right there right then, except for the fact that she might have to do dishes with lava for a month if she did. Kareen's face crunched up as she tried to come up with a retort, though without much success. After a while, she shook her head, and yelled at the other two goons, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get the damn flag!" Well, at least, that was the gist of that torrent of curse words that could have made a construction worker blush.

Just as they were charging at Holly, swords raised, while Holly herself held her dagger so tightly her bones were about to break out of her skin, deciding to go down fighting and hold them for as long as possible, the conch horn sounded in the distance. The game was won, and it was no mystery by which team. Before she knew what she was doing, Holly's legs had carried her away as fast as they could, following the sounds of cheering and heading for the creek. She didn't stop until she reached the safety of the crowd. Or so she thought.

She didn't see that Kareen had followed her all the way to the creek. She didn't see the child of Ares aiming at her all the way there. She didn't see her let go of the bow string as soon as she stopped, and the arrow flew, pointing directly at Holly's heart. She didn't even turn until someone cried out a warning, and she found herself staring straight at the arrow, which was just a couple of inches away from piercing her heart.

Time slowed down. Literally. Holly's eyes flashed gold as the arrow dropped to the ground and skidded a little until it hit her boots.

For a moment, everybody seemed to be too shocked to speak. Holly caught Emrys's eyes as he tumbled out of the forest. Now, he seemed panicked. But the expression passed as soon as Holly was able to identify it, leaving her wondering if she had imagined it. Then, he did something Holly didn't expect.

He kneeled down, and all the campers started following his example. Chiron's voice rang out across all the campers, announcing, "Hail, Holly Potter, daughter of Hecate, controller of the Mist, goddess of magic."

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**Didn't see _that_ one coming, did ya?**

**Well, guys, at the rate things are going, I'd say that the original promise of weekly update is **_**not**_** possible. I'll be sure to update at least biweekly, though.**

**I'm on my knees for reviews here!**


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